PALM BEACH, Florida – Republican supporters are celebrating an almost-certain win for former U.S. President Donald Trump, whose defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris will install him in the White House for another four-year term as 47th president.
Adding to the euphoria is that the Republicans have reclaimed the Senate.
Pollsters have been largely discredited as almost all polls were predicting a close race, with the result likely not to be known for days or weeks. Instead Trump has stunned with a swift and overwhelming win.
Trump cast his own vote near his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
“If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I’m gonna be the first one to acknowledge it,” Trump told journalists.
The clincher for the former president was the taking out of Pennsylvania with its 19-electoral college votes.
A bonus, and a boost for the Trump presidency too is the Senate. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas won a hard-fought race that showed him in trouble in early counting, but he overcame the deficit to win a third term. Republicans now control 51 seats so far, an outright majority.
Fox News in the early hours of Wednesday morning became the first major TV network to call the election for Trump. CNN had called Pennsylvania for Trump with almost all the votes counted, but held out saying a path for Harris remained open, but John King was calling a Harris victory as “highly improbable.” At 5:30am eastern time CNN joined Fox, projecting Trump as the winner. The announcement followed Mr Trump picking up Wisconsin.
“This is an incredible movement, like no-one has ever seen before,” the likely president-elect, flanked by his family and supporters, told his watch party in the early hours of Wednesday morning as he claimed victory. “This will truly be the Golden Age of America,” he said. “This is a major victory for America,” he added, as the crowd began chanting “USA, USA, USA.”
“America has given us an unprecedented mandate,” Mr Trump said, referring to the Senate win by his party. “They were all helped by the MAGA movement,” he added. “It also looks like we will be keeping the control of the House of Representatives too,” he said.
“Its time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us,” Mr Trump said. “It is time to unite.”
“Success will bring us together. I want to thank you, I will not let you down,” he added.
(Photos: Big News Network news agency)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
